Bare Bones
by honeyxtea
Summary: They were in need of a heir, and she happened to be the perfect candidate. Unaware and easily influenced she slipped into the role with ease. Chains held her down, and breaking them would not be simple.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters

_**Prologue**_

A shadowed man shifted in the darkness that engulfed the spacious room, the room held a malicious silence, and not a single beam of light was seen through the thick blackness. All that could be spotted were the burning emerald eyes that had layers of dark emotions swirling in a heap of green hues.

"Tenma-sama…" a hesitant voice called, breaking the humming silence that resided in the room.

The emerald orbs snapped towards the wiry outline of a young boy that stood in the doorway, his whole being trembled pathetically as shaky words tumbled out of his mouth.

"Th-The heir…" He trailed off, and he began wringing his hands in the most irritating manner.

The mention of the heir seemed to peak the man's interest, enough so that the shadowed man stood gracefully, allowing his robes to dance around him dramatically as he took several menacing steps towards the boy who shook like a leaf.

"What about the heir?" He hissed. His low voice burned like fire as they reached the boys ears. He was filled with a silent satisfaction as the boy flinched.

"Th-the he-heir… He…" The boy trembled harder than before as he mumbled the last part low enough that even the keen ears of the dangerous man that stood inches away from him could not hear.

"What was that?" The shadowed figure hissed in a lower octave than before. His eyes narrowed like a cat ready to pounce.

"Th-the heir is de-dead!" the boy shouted. His eyes widened tremendously as he realized the words that had rolled off his tongue and soon after he found himself crumpled on the ground.

A feral growl left the thin lips of the man who lurked above the crippled boy's body. His burning emerald eyes seemed to morph into a darker shade until they were iced over in anger.

"Nonsense." He hissed.

And without a sound, the shadowed man with the burning emerald eyes vanished.

X-X-X

Sakura didn't like many things.

This was something she realized after her parents died. At the time she was only 6.

Now at the tender age of 7, rocks were thrown, hurtful words were sent, and angry glares pushed her to the ground until she couldn't really enjoy anything anymore. She was bloodied and broken, and the worst part was that no one was there to hug her. No one was there to rub circles in the small of her back telling her how everything would be okay. There was no one there for her.

So now her bubbly smiles faded into grim lines, and sparkling childish eyes filled with innocence morphed into indifferent stares.

So as she sat on the lonesome bench, just outside the academy doors, she couldn't help but feel hatred bubble into her chest.

Just the way the other children smiled and giggled about everything, like nothing was wrong, like nothing bad ever happened; made her clench her fists until the knuckles turned white.

Nothing was _okay_. Nothing had ever been _okay_ since her parents had died.

Oh and their deaths hadn't been admirable like the fourth Hokage's. The two family members had been traveling for goods, and instead of inquiring for Konoha ninjas to protect them, they had gone the alternative, or more so; cheaper route of rouge ninjas. You can imagine that it didn't go as planned, because after robbing them of all their goods and stealing the caravan that her father had always boasted of, the rouges had slit the throats of the only people she had ever cared about. Not even a clean slit, which was the honorable way of doing things. No. Their deaths had been slow and painful. Just the way her life has been ever since that fateful day.

In all honesty, Sakura was unsure if anything would ever be okay again.

X-X-X

"WE NEED A HEIR." The proclamation seemed to echo off the walls and left the ears of the room's occupancy ringing.

Mutters fluttered in and out of existence as the cluster of men squirmed nervously in their seats, shying away from the wrath of the dangerous man standing above them.

The man whose glare near penetrated the souls of the nervous men, held himself in a way that demanded respect. He wore onyx silk robes that billowed out behind him. A dark blue obi fitted neatly around his waist, and his feet were left bare. His hair was the color of blood, its thick strands were held together in a low ponytail that cascaded down his back and his skin was an ivory, almost taking on a greyish tint.

Altogether, he radiated danger.

"Tenma-sama…" spoke up a rather brave man of the bunch, "Where are we to get an appropriate heir?"

Tenma's glare shifted to the man who had spoken up, his mouth was pulled back into sneer.

"I will choose several of you to travel to the hidden villages. There, you will choose one child who you deem appropriate for the role. You will bring them back here in the span of two weeks. I will choose one. The rest will perish." He told commandingly. He crossed his arms elegantly, allowing the sleeves of his robe to fold over each other in a river of silk.

Nods and glances of unease were exchanged, however no audible objections were spoken.

"Yes Tenma-sama."

**A/N Yeah okay, so new story. I came up with idea after reading Evil Is a relative term's story called The First Flower of Spring. So thank you so much for the inspiration! This is just the prologue, so I pretty much just set the initial plot. I hope you enjoyed.**

**Please remember to leave a review, guest or not they make my day.**


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